Boiler-tube cleaner and driver.



. Patented Oct; 3, |899. A. A. PATTON.

B'OILER TUBE CLEANER AND DRIVER.

(Application filed Jan. ze, 1899.)

(No Model.)

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' NITED STATES PATENT ALVA A. PATTON,VOF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE ILTLARKIN, OF SAME PLACE. I

"\\\ SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 634,270, dated October 3, 1899.

Application filed January 26, 1899. Serial No. 703,493. (No model.)

To all whom iv' ritayconcern: shown as semiglobular, the teeth being cut Beit known that L'ALVA A. PATTON, a citiinto the largest diameter of this section. zen of the United States, residing in the city The shaft C has its rear end formed into a and county of San'Francisco, State of Caliring, as at C, and this engages with a corre- 55 5 fornia, have invented an Improvement in sponding ring or link F, formed by bending Boiler-Tube Cleaners and Drivers; and I a rod so that this ring is the bight or central hereby declare the following to beaf ull, clear, portion. The arms cross each other, extendand exact description of the same. ing outwardly, as shown at F', thence are My invention relates to a device for cleanbent parallel with each other, and `finally are 6o 1o ing the interior ofsteam-boiler tubes either bent outwardly, as at F2, so that the ends of that class which are known as Water-tube may'engage with the staples or standards G boilers, in which the Water is contained of the driver, Where they are locked by pins Within the tubes and the heat applied to the H, which pass through holes in the staples G, exterior, or those surrounded by Water and the arms F2 passing beneath these pins and 65 15 through which the fire passes. Such tubes bebeing securely locked in place thereby.

come coated in a short time with deposits and The driver consists of a disk I, having holes it is necessary to clean them, and my device .I made diagonally through and around its is designed to rapidly and effectively perform periphery, and Water is admitted into these this duty. i holes through openings K, made in the flat 7o zo It consists in the parts and the construcdisk-face L, Which forms the front of the suptions andcombinations of parts hereinafter ply-pipe M, through which Water under presdescribed and claimed. sure is brought to the wheel or driver. This Referring to the accompanying drawings, Wheel or driver consists of a central steel hub Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of I', upon which the peripheral portion I is 75 z5 my device. Fig. 2 is a transverse* section shrunk or otherwise secured. The face of the taken through the lower part of the driver, part I which is adjacent to the surface L is the upper part removed to show the cleaninggrooved or channeled, and the surface L is head. Fig. 3 is an end View of part of the correspondinglygrooved or channeled to form driver. Fig. Il is a side elevation showing the a race or runway for balls P, which fit therein. 8o

3o connection for the cleaning-head. The opposite face of the hub or part I', which The construction and shape of the head projects slightly from the face of the part I, may be varied to suit the Work. is also grooved or channeled, and the disk Q,

As here shown, A represents the portion of fitting against this face, is correspondingly atube to be cleaned. The cleaning-head conchanneled to receive the balls R, thus form- 8 5 35 sists of a series of toothed disks B, having ing a ball-bearing upon opposite sides of the central perforations and adapted to fit upon driver. 5 a square or other suitably-shaped shank C, The driver turns upon aspindle S, which upon which the disks are locked by means of passesy through the plate L, through the hub a nut, as shown atl), and a holding-key E I', and through the disk Q, and by means of 9o 4o prevents the nut from-turning. rIhe periphlock-nuts 'I upon the outer end the parts are eries of thedisks B are toothed, as shown, and adjusted and held together, so that the face the teeth are arranged to alternate with each of the driver I runs in close contact with the other, as plainly shown in Figs. l and 2, and face of the disk L, and the Water-supply pasby reason of the rectangular or other equivsages K being disposed so as to deliver int-o 95 45 alent shape of the shaft or spindle C the teeth the inclined passages J of the wheel the latof the disks Will be held in their relative poter will be driven by the medium delivered sition and not allowed to turn upon the'shaft. thereto under pressure. This is brought into By this construction the action of the teeth the head M by means of a exible hose or is made exceedingly effective for cleansing equivalent connection, as shown at N. Ico 5o purposes. The operation of the apparatus Will then be The rear section of the cleaning-head is here as follows: The head B being inserted into the tube, power isapplied to rotate it by delivering the water or other medium under pressure into the head M, and passing through the buckets of the driver the latteris rotated at a high speed and the water passingthrough is also delivered into the tube or [lue to be cleaned. As the head B is of considerably smaller diameter than the interior ofthe tube and as the connection between the driver made by the rings or links C and F is practicallya universal joint, thehigh rate of speed gives two distinct motions to the head or eutter first, the rotary motion, due to the watermotor, and, second, a centrifugal gyratory spiral motion, due to the contact of the teeth on the cutter-head ou the tubes andthe fact that the head is smaller than lthe interior of the tube. The direction of this gyratory motion is opposite to thespinuing or'rotary movement, and it has a pounding and smashing effeet, which rapidly dislodges the scale within the tube, while the current of water delivered through the driver constantly wash es it away.

\Vhen used for cleaning scale from the outside of fire-tube, it is effected by the rapid rotation of the head and the constant hammering upon the inside of the tubes. The form of the head may be altered to suit the class of work to be done.

To clean the interior of the tubes of firetube boilers, a wire brush is substituted for the cutters and the motor is driven by steam, which takes out every particle of soot from the tubes and leaves them as clean as when new.

The Iiexible joint connection allows the device to operate with equal efficiency in crooked tubes.

I'Iaving thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isy l. A boiler-tube cleaner comprising ahead composed of disks of successively-decreasing diameters, a driver and means for rotating the same, said driver and head each having a meeting portion disposed in its longitudinal central line and formed as a member of a universal coupling whereby the head is both rotated and caused to gyrate independently and uncontrolled within the tube.

2. Aboiler-tubecleaner-consistingofahead having a smaller diameter than the interior of the tube and including independent disks of successively -decreasing diameters, and each disk provided with a toothed periphery, a driver by which rotary motion is imparted, and a universal-joint coupling between the driver and head and in line with lthe cent-ral longitudinal line of the driver and head wherebythc latter is looselyhungand'both rotated and gyrated within the periphery of t-he tube.

3. Aboiler-tubecleanerconsistingofahead composed of independent removable disks having toothed peripheries, said disks being 'with eXteriorly-toothed sections, a rectangular stem upon which said sections are IiXed so that their teeth alternate with each other,

a ring formed at the rear of the stem, a rotary driver having lugs or standards projecting from its face, yoke-arms bent to interlock with said standards and be secured thereto and a ring formed in the bight ot said yoke connecting with the ring at the rear of the cleaning-head whereby a universal-joint conncction is formed between the driver and cleaning-head.

5. In a boiler-tube cleaner, a head having exteriorly-toothed disks, a stem or shank to which said disks are removably Iixed, a universal-joint connection consisting of interlocking rings, one of which is formed upon the stein or shank of the head and the otherl upon a yoke, a driver consistingr of a wheel having inclined peripheralopenings, standards projecting from the face of said wheel, with which standards the arms of the yoke are removably engaged and interloeked and a watersupply head having perforations through which water is delivered into the wheel-buckets to revolve the latter substantially as described.

G. A boiler-tube cleanerand a driver therefor consisting of a head having a flat disk forming its front end, with perforations for the discharge of water and a pipe through which water is supplied under pressure, a wheel having diagonally-disposed holes made through it on the line of the supply-passages of the head, a spindle by which the wheel is connected with the head, ball-bearings interposed between the face of the wheel and the contiguous face of the head, a disk or collar exterior to the wheel with corresponding ballbearings and lock-n uts fitting the spindle and serving to hold and adjust the wheel with relation to the head, a cleaner-head having a centrally-located stem formed as a member of a universal couplingand ayokc extension from the face of the wheel and formed with an engaging memberofsaid coupling disposed in line with the axis of the wheel.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

ALVA A. PATTON.

lVtnesses:

S. Il. NoUnsn, Il. F. Asounek.

IOO 

